Interactive User Interface to Visually Display the Impact of Configuration Changes on a Managed Network

ABSTRACT

A system may be configured to: provide, to a client device of a managed network, a representation of a graphical user interface (GUI) that displays a nominal configuration of a computing device on which a particular software application is deployed or is a candidate for deployment, where licensing information in a database of the system respectively indicates a first license rights consumption for the particular software application; receive, by way of the GUI and from the client device, an indication of a proposed configuration of the computing device; in response to receiving the indication of the proposed configuration, determine a second license rights consumption that results from deploying the particular software application in accordance with the proposed configuration; and provide, to the client device, an updated representation of the GUI that displays a graphical indication of the second license rights consumption.

BACKGROUND

An enterprise may use many computing devices to efficiently facilitateand manage its many interrelated operations, and each such computingdevice may have one or more software applications installed thereon.Where the software is proprietary, the enterprise may procure licensesfor the computing devices to use the software. Given this, theenterprise may seek to properly evaluate consumption of license rightsassociated with the software applications, so as to ensure that suchconsumption complies with license rights allocations and/or with otherconstraints imposed by the enterprise.

SUMMARY

Generally, an enterprise might make changes to software and/or hardwareconfiguration(s) of computing device(s), and these changes could havevarious consequences. One such consequence that is often considered byan enterprise relates to costs of adding, removing, and/or upgradingcertain hardware. But another consequence, often overlooked byenterprises, is the impact of changes to computing deviceconfiguration(s) on license rights consumption associated with varioussoftware application(s). This may include an impact on the number ofrights respectively used for the software application(s) and/or animpact on costs associated with licenses for the softwareapplication(s), among other possibilities.

In accordance with the present disclosure, a system may be configured togenerate information that can help an enterprise better evaluate theimpact of changes to computing device configuration(s) on license rightsconsumption. The system may provide a remote network management platformthat manages a managed network of the enterprise, and thus the systemmay transmit the generated information for display on client device(s)associated with the managed network.

More specifically, the system may provide, to a client device, arepresentation of a graphical user interface (GUI) that displays anominal configuration of a computing device associated with the managednetwork. The nominal configuration may be a current configuration of thecomputing device and may relate to a number of physical processorsand/or a number of processor cores currently included on the computingdevice, for example.

Through this GUI, a user of the client device may then provide input tospecify a proposed configuration of the computing device, and the systemmay in turn receive an indication of this proposed configuration. Theproposed configuration may relate to a proposed number of physicalprocessors and/or a proposed number of processor cores to be included onthe computing device, for example.

Once the system receives the indication of this proposed configuration,the system may then project a license rights consumption that resultsfrom deploying a particular software application in accordance with theproposed configuration. Then, once the projected license rightsconsumption is determined, the system may provide, to the client device,an updated representation of the GUI that displays a graphicalindication of the projected license rights consumption.

By way of example, the system may determine and provide a graphicalindication of a projected number of license rights to be used for theparticular software application as result of deploying the particularsoftware application in accordance with the proposed configuration. Inanother example, the system may determine and provide a graphicalindication of projected costs associated with license rights for theparticular software application, as might result from deploying theparticular software application in accordance with the proposedconfiguration.

As such, the system could determine the impact of one or moreconfiguration changes on license rights consumption for one or moresoftware applications, and could provide, to client device(s), graphicalindication(s) of the determined impact. And given that an enterprise mayhave numerous devices, software applications, and associated licenses,the system may help reduce the time and complexity of determining such aprojected impact, because the system could automatically and efficientlyevaluate some or all such devices, software applications, and/orassociated licenses in order to determine the projected impact. Thus,when making a decision as to whether or not to carry out certain changesto computing device configuration(s), the enterprise could receive andevaluate valuable information related to the projected impact onsoftware license rights consumption, which may be displayed via GUI asdiscussed.

Accordingly, a first example embodiment may involve a system including adatabase and one or more server devices disposed within a remote networkmanagement platform that manages a managed network. The database maycontain licensing information that includes respective indications oflicense rights allocations and consumption for each of a plurality ofsoftware applications associated with the managed network. Additionally,one or more server devices may be configured to: provide, to a clientdevice associated with the managed network, a representation of agraphical user interface that displays a nominal configuration of acomputing device on which a particular software application of theplurality of software applications is deployed or is a candidate fordeployment, where the licensing information respectively indicates afirst license rights consumption for the particular softwareapplication; receive, by way of the graphical user interface and fromthe client device, an indication of a proposed configuration of thecomputing device; in response to receiving the indication of theproposed configuration, determine a second license rights consumptionthat results from deploying the particular software application inaccordance with the proposed configuration; and provide, to the clientdevice, an updated representation of the graphical user interface thatdisplays a graphical indication of the second license rightsconsumption.

A second example embodiment may involve providing, by one or more serverdevices to a client device associated with a managed network, arepresentation of a graphical user interface that displays a nominalconfiguration of a computing device on which a particular softwareapplication, of a plurality of software applications associated with themanaged network, is deployed or is a candidate for deployment, where theone or more server devices are disposed within a remote networkmanagement platform that manages the managed network, wherein a databaseis also disposed within the remote network management platform, wherethe database contains licensing information that includes respectiveindications of license rights allocations and consumption for each ofthe plurality of software applications, and where the licensinginformation respectively indicates a first license rights consumptionfor the particular software application. The second example embodimentmay also involve receiving, by one or more server devices from theclient device and by way of the graphical user interface, an indicationof a proposed configuration of the computing device. The second exampleembodiment may additionally involve, in response to receiving theindication of the proposed configuration, determining, by the one ormore server devices, a second license rights consumption that resultsfrom deploying the particular software application in accordance withthe proposed configuration. The second example embodiment may furtherinvolve providing, by the one or more server devices to the clientdevice, an updated representation of the graphical user interface thatdisplays a graphical indication of the second license rightsconsumption.

In a third example embodiment, an article of manufacture may include anon-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon programinstructions that, upon execution by one or more server devices, causethe one or more server devices to perform operations in accordance withthe first and/or second example embodiment.

In a fourth example embodiment, one or more server devices may includeat least one processor, as well as memory and program instructions. Theprogram instructions may be stored in the memory, and upon execution bythe at least one processor, cause the one or more server devices toperform operations in accordance with the first and/or second exampleembodiment.

In a fifth example embodiment, a system may include various means forcarrying out each of the operations of the first and/or second exampleembodiment.

These as well as other embodiments, aspects, advantages, andalternatives will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artby reading the following detailed description, with reference whereappropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, this summary andother descriptions and figures provided herein are intended toillustrate embodiments by way of example only and, as such, thatnumerous variations are possible. For instance, structural elements andprocess steps can be rearranged, combined, distributed, eliminated, orotherwise changed, while remaining within the scope of the embodimentsas claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of a computing device, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic drawing of a server device cluster, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a communication environment involving a remote networkmanagement architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5A depicts another communication environment involving a remotenetwork management architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts communication between a client device and a computationalinstance, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts a graphical user interface that displays a proposedconfiguration and projected license rights consumption, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is another flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods, devices, and systems are described herein. It should beunderstood that the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein tomean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodimentor feature described herein as being an “example” or “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otherembodiments or features unless stated as such. Thus, other embodimentscan be utilized and other changes can be made without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein.

Accordingly, the example embodiments described herein are not meant tobe limiting. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations. For example, theseparation of features into “client” and “server” components may occurin a number of ways.

Further, unless context suggests otherwise, the features illustrated ineach of the figures may be used in combination with one another. Thus,the figures should be generally viewed as component aspects of one ormore overall embodiments, with the understanding that not allillustrated features are necessary for each embodiment.

Additionally, any enumeration of elements, blocks, or steps in thisspecification or the claims is for purposes of clarity. Thus, suchenumeration should not be interpreted to require or imply that theseelements, blocks, or steps adhere to a particular arrangement or arecarried out in a particular order.

I. INTRODUCTION

A large enterprise is a complex entity with many interrelatedoperations. Some of these are found across the enterprise, such as humanresources (HR), supply chain, information technology (IT), and finance.However, each enterprise also has its own unique operations that provideessential capabilities and/or create competitive advantages.

To support widely-implemented operations, enterprises typically useoff-the-shelf software applications, such as customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) and human capital management (HCM) packages. However,they may also need custom software applications to meet their own uniquerequirements. A large enterprise often has dozens or hundreds of thesecustom software applications. Nonetheless, the advantages provided bythe embodiments herein are not limited to large enterprises and may beapplicable to an enterprise, or any other type of organization, of anysize.

Many such software applications are developed by individual departmentswithin the enterprise. These range from simple spreadsheets tocustom-built software tools and databases. But the proliferation ofsiloed custom software applications has numerous disadvantages. Itnegatively impacts an enterprise's ability to run and grow its business,innovate, and meet regulatory requirements. The enterprise may find itdifficult to integrate, streamline and enhance its operations due tolack of a single system that unifies its subsystems and data.

To efficiently create custom applications, enterprises would benefitfrom a remotely-hosted application platform that eliminates unnecessarydevelopment complexity. The goal of such a platform would be to reducetime-consuming, repetitive application development tasks so thatsoftware engineers and individuals in other roles can focus ondeveloping unique, high-value features.

In order to achieve this goal, the concept of Application Platform as aService (aPaaS) is introduced, to intelligently automate workflowsthroughout the enterprise. An aPaaS system is hosted remotely from theenterprise, but may access data, applications, and services within theenterprise by way of secure connections. Such an aPaaS system may have anumber of advantageous capabilities and characteristics. Theseadvantages and characteristics may be able to improve the enterprise'soperations and workflow for IT, HR, CRM, customer service, applicationdevelopment, and security.

The aPaaS system may support development and execution ofmodel-view-controller (MVC) applications. MVC applications divide theirfunctionality into three interconnected parts (model, view, andcontroller) in order to isolate representations of information from themanner in which the information is presented to the user, therebyallowing for efficient code reuse and parallel development. Theseapplications may be web-based, and offer create, read, update, delete(CRUD) capabilities. This allows new applications to be built on acommon application infrastructure.

The aPaaS system may support standardized application components, suchas a standardized set of widgets for graphical user interface (GUI)development. In this way, applications built using the aPaaS system havea common look and feel. Other software components and modules may bestandardized as well. In some cases, this look and feel can be brandedor skinned with an enterprise's custom logos and/or color schemes.

The aPaaS system may support the ability to configure the behavior ofapplications using metadata. This allows application behaviors to berapidly adapted to meet specific needs. Such an approach reducesdevelopment time and increases flexibility. Further, the aPaaS systemmay support GUI tools that facilitate metadata creation and management,thus reducing errors in the metadata.

The aPaaS system may support clearly-defined interfaces betweenapplications, so that software developers can avoid unwantedinter-application dependencies. Thus, the aPaaS system may implement aservice layer in which persistent state information and other data isstored.

The aPaaS system may support a rich set of integration features so thatthe applications thereon can interact with legacy applications andthird-party applications. For instance, the aPaaS system may support acustom employee-onboarding system that integrates with legacy HR, IT,and accounting systems.

The aPaaS system may support enterprise-grade security. Furthermore,since the aPaaS system may be remotely hosted, it should also utilizesecurity procedures when it interacts with systems in the enterprise orthird-party networks and services hosted outside of the enterprise. Forexample, the aPaaS system may be configured to share data amongst theenterprise and other parties to detect and identify common securitythreats.

Other features, functionality, and advantages of an aPaaS system mayexist. This description is for purpose of example and is not intended tobe limiting.

As an example of the aPaaS development process, a software developer maybe tasked to create a new application using the aPaaS system. First, thedeveloper may define the data model, which specifies the types of datathat the application uses and the relationships therebetween. Then, viaa GUI of the aPaaS system, the developer enters (e.g., uploads) the datamodel. The aPaaS system automatically creates all of the correspondingdatabase tables, fields, and relationships, which can then be accessedvia an object-oriented services layer.

In addition, the aPaaS system can also build a fully-functional MVCapplication with client-side interfaces and server-side CRUD logic. Thisgenerated application may serve as the basis of further development forthe user. Advantageously, the developer does not have to spend a largeamount of time on basic application functionality. Further, since theapplication may be web-based, it can be accessed from anyInternet-enabled client device. Alternatively or additionally, a localcopy of the application may be able to be accessed, for instance, whenInternet service is not available.

The aPaaS system may also support a rich set of pre-definedfunctionality that can be added to applications. These features includesupport for searching, email, templating, workflow design, reporting,analytics, social media, scripting, mobile-friendly output, andcustomized GUIs.

The following embodiments describe architectural and functional aspectsof example aPaaS systems, as well as the features and advantagesthereof.

II. EXAMPLE COMPUTING DEVICES AND CLOUD-BASED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram exemplifying a computing device100, illustrating some of the components that could be included in acomputing device arranged to operate in accordance with the embodimentsherein. Computing device 100 could be a client device (e.g., a deviceactively operated by a user), a server device (e.g., a device thatprovides computational services to client devices), or some other typeof computational platform. Some server devices may operate as clientdevices from time to time in order to perform particular operations, andsome client devices may incorporate server features.

In this example, computing device 100 includes processor 102, memory104, network interface 106, and an input/output unit 108, all of whichmay be coupled by a system bus 110 or a similar mechanism. In someembodiments, computing device 100 may include other components and/orperipheral devices (e.g., detachable storage, printers, and so on).

Processor 102 may be one or more of any type of computer processingelement, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a co-processor (e.g.,a mathematics, graphics, or encryption co-processor), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), a network processor, and/or a form of integratedcircuit or controller that performs processor operations. In some cases,processor 102 may be one or more single-core processors. In other cases,processor 102 may be one or more multi-core processors with multipleindependent processing units. Processor 102 may also include registermemory for temporarily storing instructions being executed and relateddata, as well as cache memory for temporarily storing recently-usedinstructions and data.

Memory 104 may be any form of computer-usable memory, including but notlimited to random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), andnon-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk drives, solid statedrives, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), and/or tapestorage). Thus, memory 104 represents both main memory units, as well aslong-term storage. Other types of memory may include biological memory.

Memory 104 may store program instructions and/or data on which programinstructions may operate. By way of example, memory 104 may store theseprogram instructions on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, suchthat the instructions are executable by processor 102 to carry out anyof the methods, processes, or operations disclosed in this specificationor the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, memory 104 may include firmware 104A, kernel 104B,and/or applications 104C. Firmware 104A may be program code used to bootor otherwise initiate some or all of computing device 100. Kernel 104Bmay be an operating system, including modules for memory management,scheduling and management of processes, input/output, and communication.Kernel 104B may also include device drivers that allow the operatingsystem to communicate with the hardware modules (e.g., memory units,networking interfaces, ports, and busses), of computing device 100.Applications 104C may be one or more user-space software programs, suchas web browsers or email clients, as well as any software libraries usedby these programs. Memory 104 may also store data used by these andother programs and applications.

Network interface 106 may take the form of one or more wirelineinterfaces, such as Ethernet (e.g., Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, andso on). Network interface 106 may also support communication over one ormore non-Ethernet media, such as coaxial cables or power lines, or overwide-area media, such as Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) ordigital subscriber line (DSL) technologies. Network interface 106 mayadditionally take the form of one or more wireless interfaces, such asIEEE 802.11 (Wifi), BLUETOOTH®, global positioning system (GPS), or awide-area wireless interface. However, other forms of physical layerinterfaces and other types of standard or proprietary communicationprotocols may be used over network interface 106. Furthermore, networkinterface 106 may comprise multiple physical interfaces. For instance,some embodiments of computing device 100 may include Ethernet,BLUETOOTH®, and Wifi interfaces.

Input/output unit 108 may facilitate user and peripheral deviceinteraction with example computing device 100. Input/output unit 108 mayinclude one or more types of input devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse,a touch screen, and so on. Similarly, input/output unit 108 may includeone or more types of output devices, such as a screen, monitor, printer,and/or one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs). Additionally oralternatively, computing device 100 may communicate with other devicesusing a universal serial bus (USB) or high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI) port interface, for example.

In some embodiments, one or more instances of computing device 100 maybe deployed to support an aPaaS architecture. The exact physicallocation, connectivity, and configuration of these computing devices maybe unknown and/or unimportant to client devices. Accordingly, thecomputing devices may be referred to as “cloud-based” devices that maybe housed at various remote data center locations.

FIG. 2 depicts a cloud-based server cluster 200 in accordance withexample embodiments. In FIG. 2, operations of a computing device (e.g.,computing device 100) may be distributed between server devices 202,data storage 204, and routers 206, all of which may be connected bylocal cluster network 208. The number of server devices 202, datastorages 204, and routers 206 in server cluster 200 may depend on thecomputing task(s) and/or applications assigned to server cluster 200.

For example, server devices 202 can be configured to perform variouscomputing tasks of computing device 100. Thus, computing tasks can bedistributed among one or more of server devices 202. To the extent thatthese computing tasks can be performed in parallel, such a distributionof tasks may reduce the total time to complete these tasks and return aresult. For purpose of simplicity, both server cluster 200 andindividual server devices 202 may be referred to as a “server device.”This nomenclature should be understood to imply that one or moredistinct server devices, data storage devices, and cluster routers maybe involved in server device operations.

Data storage 204 may be data storage arrays that include drive arraycontrollers configured to manage read and write access to groups of harddisk drives and/or solid state drives. The drive array controllers,alone or in conjunction with server devices 202, may also be configuredto manage backup or redundant copies of the data stored in data storage204 to protect against drive failures or other types of failures thatprevent one or more of server devices 202 from accessing units ofcluster data storage 204. Other types of memory aside from drives may beused.

Routers 206 may include networking equipment configured to provideinternal and external communications for server cluster 200. Forexample, routers 206 may include one or more packet-switching and/orrouting devices (including switches and/or gateways) configured toprovide (i) network communications between server devices 202 and datastorage 204 via cluster network 208, and/or (ii) network communicationsbetween the server cluster 200 and other devices via communication link210 to network 212.

Additionally, the configuration of cluster routers 206 can be based atleast in part on the data communication requirements of server devices202 and data storage 204, the latency and throughput of the localcluster network 208, the latency, throughput, and cost of communicationlink 210, and/or other factors that may contribute to the cost, speed,fault-tolerance, resiliency, efficiency and/or other design goals of thesystem architecture.

As a possible example, data storage 204 may include any form ofdatabase, such as a structured query language (SQL) database. Varioustypes of data structures may store the information in such a database,including but not limited to tables, arrays, lists, trees, and tuples.Furthermore, any databases in data storage 204 may be monolithic ordistributed across multiple physical devices.

Server devices 202 may be configured to transmit data to and receivedata from cluster data storage 204. This transmission and retrieval maytake the form of SQL queries or other types of database queries, and theoutput of such queries, respectively. Additional text, images, video,and/or audio may be included as well. Furthermore, server devices 202may organize the received data into web page representations. Such arepresentation may take the form of a markup language, such as thehypertext markup language (HTML), the extensible markup language (XML),or some other standardized or proprietary format. Moreover, serverdevices 202 may have the capability of executing various types ofcomputerized scripting languages, such as but not limited to Perl,Python, PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP),JavaScript, and so on. Computer program code written in these languagesmay facilitate the providing of web pages to client devices, as well asclient device interaction with the web pages.

III. EXAMPLE REMOTE NETWORK MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments. This architecture includes three maincomponents, managed network 300, remote network management platform 320,and third-party networks 340, all connected by way of Internet 350.

Managed network 300 may be, for example, an enterprise network used by abusiness for computing and communications tasks, as well as storage ofdata. Thus, managed network 300 may include various client devices 302,server devices 304, routers 306, virtual machines 308, firewall 310,and/or proxy servers 312. Client devices 302 may be embodied bycomputing device 100, server devices 304 may be embodied by computingdevice 100 or server cluster 200, and routers 306 may be any type ofrouter, switch, or gateway.

Virtual machines 308 may be embodied by one or more of computing device100 or server cluster 200. In general, a virtual machine is an emulationof a computing system, and mimics the functionality (e.g., processor,memory, and communication resources) of a physical computer. Onephysical computing system, such as server cluster 200, may support up tothousands of individual virtual machines. In some embodiments, virtualmachines 308 may be managed by a centralized server device orapplication that facilitates allocation of physical computing resourcesto individual virtual machines, as well as performance and errorreporting. Enterprises often employ virtual machines in order toallocate computing resources in an efficient, as needed fashion.Providers of virtualized computing systems include VMWARE® andMICROSOFT®.

Firewall 310 may be one or more specialized routers or server devicesthat protect managed network 300 from unauthorized attempts to accessthe devices, applications, and services therein, while allowingauthorized communication that is initiated from managed network 300.Firewall 310 may also provide intrusion detection, web filtering, virusscanning, application-layer gateways, and other applications orservices. In some embodiments not shown in FIG. 3, managed network 300may include one or more virtual private network (VPN) gateways withwhich it communicates with remote network management platform 320 (seebelow).

Managed network 300 may also include one or more proxy servers 312. Anembodiment of proxy servers 312 may be a server device that facilitatescommunication and movement of data between managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320, and third-party networks 340. Inparticular, proxy servers 312 may be able to establish and maintainsecure communication sessions with one or more computational instancesof remote network management platform 320. By way of such a session,remote network management platform 320 may be able to discover andmanage aspects of the architecture and configuration of managed network300 and its components. Possibly with the assistance of proxy servers312, remote network management platform 320 may also be able to discoverand manage aspects of third-party networks 340 that are used by managednetwork 300.

Firewalls, such as firewall 310, typically deny all communicationsessions that are incoming by way of Internet 350, unless such a sessionwas ultimately initiated from behind the firewall (i.e., from a deviceon managed network 300) or the firewall has been explicitly configuredto support the session. By placing proxy servers 312 behind firewall 310(e.g., within managed network 300 and protected by firewall 310), proxyservers 312 may be able to initiate these communication sessions throughfirewall 310. Thus, firewall 310 might not have to be specificallyconfigured to support incoming sessions from remote network managementplatform 320, thereby avoiding potential security risks to managednetwork 300.

In some cases, managed network 300 may consist of a few devices and asmall number of networks. In other deployments, managed network 300 mayspan multiple physical locations and include hundreds of networks andhundreds of thousands of devices. Thus, the architecture depicted inFIG. 3 is capable of scaling up or down by orders of magnitude.

Furthermore, depending on the size, architecture, and connectivity ofmanaged network 300, a varying number of proxy servers 312 may bedeployed therein. For example, each one of proxy servers 312 may beresponsible for communicating with remote network management platform320 regarding a portion of managed network 300. Alternatively oradditionally, sets of two or more proxy servers may be assigned to sucha portion of managed network 300 for purposes of load balancing,redundancy, and/or high availability.

Remote network management platform 320 is a hosted environment thatprovides aPaaS services to users, particularly to the operators ofmanaged network 300. These services may take the form of web-basedportals, for instance. Thus, a user can securely access remote networkmanagement platform 320 from, for instance, client devices 302, orpotentially from a client device outside of managed network 300. By wayof the web-based portals, users may design, test, and deployapplications, generate reports, view analytics, and perform other tasks.

As shown in FIG. 3, remote network management platform 320 includes fourcomputational instances 322, 324, 326, and 328. Each of these instancesmay represent a set of web portals, services, and applications (e.g., awholly-functioning aPaaS system) available to a particular customer. Insome cases, a single customer may use multiple computational instances.For example, managed network 300 may be an enterprise customer of remotenetwork management platform 320, and may use computational instances322, 324, and 326. The reason for providing multiple instances to onecustomer is that the customer may wish to independently develop, test,and deploy its applications and services. Thus, computational instance322 may be dedicated to application development related to managednetwork 300, computational instance 324 may be dedicated to testingthese applications, and computational instance 326 may be dedicated tothe live operation of tested applications and services. A computationalinstance may also be referred to as a hosted instance, a remoteinstance, a customer instance, or by some other designation.

The multi-instance architecture of remote network management platform320 is in contrast to conventional multi-tenant architectures, overwhich multi-instance architectures have several advantages. Inmulti-tenant architectures, data from different customers (e.g.,enterprises) are comingled in a single database. While these customers'data are separate from one another, the separation is enforced by thesoftware that operates the single database. As a consequence, a securitybreach in this system may impact all customers' data, creatingadditional risk, especially for entities subject to governmental,healthcare, and/or financial regulation. Furthermore, any databaseoperations that impact one customer will likely impact all customerssharing that database. Thus, if there is an outage due to hardware orsoftware errors, this outage affects all such customers. Likewise, ifthe database is to be upgraded to meet the needs of one customer, itwill be unavailable to all customers during the upgrade process. Often,such maintenance windows will be long, due to the size of the shareddatabase.

In contrast, the multi-instance architecture provides each customer withits own database in a dedicated computing instance. This preventscomingling of customer data, and allows each instance to beindependently managed. For example, when one customer's instanceexperiences an outage due to errors or an upgrade, other computationalinstances are not impacted. Maintenance down time is limited because thedatabase only contains one customer's data. Further, the simpler designof the multi-instance architecture allows redundant copies of eachcustomer database and instance to be deployed in a geographicallydiverse fashion. This facilitates high availability, where the liveversion of the customer's instance can be moved when faults are detectedor maintenance is being performed.

In order to support multiple computational instances in an efficientfashion, remote network management platform 320 may implement aplurality of these instances on a single hardware platform. For example,when the aPaaS system is implemented on a server cluster such as servercluster 200, it may operate a virtual machine that dedicates varyingamounts of computational, storage, and communication resources toinstances. But full virtualization of server cluster 200 might not benecessary, and other mechanisms may be used to separate instances. Insome examples, each instance may have a dedicated account and one ormore dedicated databases on server cluster 200. Alternatively,computational instance 322 may span multiple physical devices.

In some cases, a single server cluster of remote network managementplatform 320 may support multiple independent enterprises. Furthermore,as described below, remote network management platform 320 may includemultiple server clusters deployed in geographically diverse data centersin order to facilitate load balancing, redundancy, and/or highavailability.

Third-party networks 340 may be remote server devices (e.g., a pluralityof server clusters such as server cluster 200) that can be used foroutsourced computational, data storage, communication, and servicehosting operations. These servers may be virtualized (i.e., the serversmay be virtual machines). Examples of third-party networks 340 mayinclude AMAZON WEB SERVICES® and MICROSOFT® Azure. Like remote networkmanagement platform 320, multiple server clusters supporting third-partynetworks 340 may be deployed at geographically diverse locations forpurposes of load balancing, redundancy, and/or high availability.

Managed network 300 may use one or more of third-party networks 340 todeploy applications and services to its clients and customers. Forinstance, if managed network 300 provides online music streamingservices, third-party networks 340 may store the music files and provideweb interface and streaming capabilities. In this way, the enterprise ofmanaged network 300 does not have to build and maintain its own serversfor these operations.

Remote network management platform 320 may include modules thatintegrate with third-party networks 340 to expose virtual machines andmanaged services therein to managed network 300. The modules may allowusers to request virtual resources and provide flexible reporting forthird-party networks 340. In order to establish this functionality, auser from managed network 300 might first establish an account withthird-party networks 340, and request a set of associated resources.Then, the user may enter the account information into the appropriatemodules of remote network management platform 320. These modules maythen automatically discover the manageable resources in the account, andalso provide reports related to usage, performance, and billing.

Internet 350 may represent a portion of the global Internet. However,Internet 350 may alternatively represent a different type of network,such as a private wide-area or local-area packet-switched network.

FIG. 4 further illustrates the communication environment between managednetwork 300 and computational instance 322, and introduces additionalfeatures and alternative embodiments. In FIG. 4, computational instance322 is replicated across data centers 400A and 400B. These data centersmay be geographically distant from one another, perhaps in differentcities or different countries. Each data center includes supportequipment that facilitates communication with managed network 300, aswell as remote users.

In data center 400A, network traffic to and from external devices flowseither through VPN gateway 402A or firewall 404A. VPN gateway 402A maybe peered with VPN gateway 412 of managed network 300 by way of asecurity protocol such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) orTransport Layer Security (TLS). Firewall 404A may be configured to allowaccess from authorized users, such as user 414 and remote user 416, andto deny access to unauthorized users. By way of firewall 404A, theseusers may access computational instance 322, and possibly othercomputational instances. Load balancer 406A may be used to distributetraffic amongst one or more physical or virtual server devices that hostcomputational instance 322. Load balancer 406A may simplify user accessby hiding the internal configuration of data center 400A, (e.g.,computational instance 322) from client devices. For instance, ifcomputational instance 322 includes multiple physical or virtualcomputing devices that share access to multiple databases, load balancer406A may distribute network traffic and processing tasks across thesecomputing devices and databases so that no one computing device ordatabase is significantly busier than the others. In some embodiments,computational instance 322 may include VPN gateway 402A, firewall 404A,and load balancer 406A.

Data center 400B may include its own versions of the components in datacenter 400A. Thus, VPN gateway 402B, firewall 404B, and load balancer406B may perform the same or similar operations as VPN gateway 402A,firewall 404A, and load balancer 406A, respectively. Further, by way ofreal-time or near-real-time database replication and/or otheroperations, computational instance 322 may exist simultaneously in datacenters 400A and 400B.

Data centers 400A and 400B as shown in FIG. 4 may facilitate redundancyand high availability. In the configuration of FIG. 4, data center 400Ais active and data center 400B is passive. Thus, data center 400A isserving all traffic to and from managed network 300, while the versionof computational instance 322 in data center 400B is being updated innear-real-time. Other configurations, such as one in which both datacenters are active, may be supported.

Should data center 400A fail in some fashion or otherwise becomeunavailable to users, data center 400B can take over as the active datacenter. For example, domain name system (DNS) servers that associate adomain name of computational instance 322 with one or more InternetProtocol (IP) addresses of data center 400A may re-associate the domainname with one or more IP addresses of data center 400B. After thisre-association completes (which may take less than one second or severalseconds), users may access computational instance 322 by way of datacenter 400B.

FIG. 4 also illustrates a possible configuration of managed network 300.As noted above, proxy servers 312 and user 414 may access computationalinstance 322 through firewall 310. Proxy servers 312 may also accessconfiguration items 410. In FIG. 4, configuration items 410 may refer toany or all of client devices 302, server devices 304, routers 306, andvirtual machines 308, any applications or services executing thereon, aswell as relationships between devices, applications, and services. Thus,the term “configuration items” may be shorthand for any physical orvirtual device, or any application or service remotely discoverable ormanaged by computational instance 322, or relationships betweendiscovered devices, applications, and services. Configuration items maybe represented in a configuration management database (CMDB) ofcomputational instance 322.

As noted above, VPN gateway 412 may provide a dedicated VPN to VPNgateway 402A. Such a VPN may be helpful when there is a significantamount of traffic between managed network 300 and computational instance322, or security policies otherwise suggest or require use of a VPNbetween these sites. In some embodiments, any device in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 that directly communicates via theVPN is assigned a public IP address. Other devices in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 may be assigned private IPaddresses (e.g., IP addresses selected from the 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255or 192.168.0.0-192.168.255.255 ranges, represented in shorthand assubnets 10.0.0.0/8 and 192.168.0.0/16, respectively).

IV. EXAMPLE DEVICE, APPLICATION, AND SERVICE DISCOVERY

In order for remote network management platform 320 to administer thedevices, applications, and services of managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320 may first determine what devices arepresent in managed network 300, the configurations and operationalstatuses of these devices, and the applications and services provided bythe devices, and well as the relationships between discovered devices,applications, and services. As noted above, each device, application,service, and relationship may be referred to as a configuration item.The process of defining configuration items within managed network 300is referred to as discovery, and may be facilitated at least in part byproxy servers 312.

For purpose of the embodiments herein, an “application” may refer to oneor more processes, threads, programs, client modules, server modules, orany other software that executes on a device or group of devices. A“service” may refer to a high-level capability provided by multipleapplications executing on one or more devices working in conjunctionwith one another. For example, a high-level web service may involvemultiple web application server threads executing on one device andaccessing information from a database application that executes onanother device.

FIG. 5A provides a logical depiction of how configuration items can bediscovered, as well as how information related to discoveredconfiguration items can be stored. For sake of simplicity, remotenetwork management platform 320, third-party networks 340, and Internet350 are not shown.

In FIG. 5A, CMDB 500 and task list 502 are stored within computationalinstance 322. Computational instance 322 may transmit discovery commandsto proxy servers 312. In response, proxy servers 312 may transmit probesto various devices, applications, and services in managed network 300.These devices, applications, and services may transmit responses toproxy servers 312, and proxy servers 312 may then provide informationregarding discovered configuration items to CMDB 500 for storagetherein. Configuration items stored in CMDB 500 represent theenvironment of managed network 300.

Task list 502 represents a list of activities that proxy servers 312 areto perform on behalf of computational instance 322. As discovery takesplace, task list 502 is populated. Proxy servers 312 repeatedly querytask list 502, obtain the next task therein, and perform this task untiltask list 502 is empty or another stopping condition has been reached.

To facilitate discovery, proxy servers 312 may be configured withinformation regarding one or more subnets in managed network 300 thatare reachable by way of proxy servers 312. For instance, proxy servers312 may be given the IP address range 192.168.0/24 as a subnet. Then,computational instance 322 may store this information in CMDB 500 andplace tasks in task list 502 for discovery of devices at each of theseaddresses.

FIG. 5A also depicts devices, applications, and services in managednetwork 300 as configuration items 504, 506, 508, 510, and 512. As notedabove, these configuration items represent a set of physical and/orvirtual devices (e.g., client devices, server devices, routers, orvirtual machines), applications executing thereon (e.g., web servers,email servers, databases, or storage arrays), relationshipstherebetween, as well as services that involve multiple individualconfiguration items.

Placing the tasks in task list 502 may trigger or otherwise cause proxyservers 312 to begin discovery. Alternatively or additionally, discoverymay be manually triggered or automatically triggered based on triggeringevents (e.g., discovery may automatically begin once per day at aparticular time).

In general, discovery may proceed in four logical phases: scanning,classification, identification, and exploration. Each phase of discoveryinvolves various types of probe messages being transmitted by proxyservers 312 to one or more devices in managed network 300. The responsesto these probes may be received and processed by proxy servers 312, andrepresentations thereof may be transmitted to CMDB 500. Thus, each phasecan result in more configuration items being discovered and stored inCMDB 500.

In the scanning phase, proxy servers 312 may probe each IP address inthe specified range of IP addresses for open Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) and/or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports to determinethe general type of device. The presence of such open ports at an IPaddress may indicate that a particular application is operating on thedevice that is assigned the IP address, which in turn may identify theoperating system used by the device. For example, if TCP port 135 isopen, then the device is likely executing a WINDOWS® operating system.Similarly, if TCP port 22 is open, then the device is likely executing aUNIX® operating system, such as LINUX®. If UDP port 161 is open, thenthe device may be able to be further identified through the SimpleNetwork Management Protocol (SNMP). Other possibilities exist. Once thepresence of a device at a particular IP address and its open ports havebeen discovered, these configuration items are saved in CMDB 500.

In the classification phase, proxy servers 312 may further probe eachdiscovered device to determine the version of its operating system. Theprobes used for a particular device are based on information gatheredabout the devices during the scanning phase. For example, if a device isfound with TCP port 22 open, a set of UNIX®-specific probes may be used.Likewise, if a device is found with TCP port 135 open, a set ofWINDOWS®-specific probes may be used. For either case, an appropriateset of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxy servers 312 tocarry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312 logging on, orotherwise accessing information from the particular device. Forinstance, if TCP port 22 is open, proxy servers 312 may be instructed toinitiate a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to the particular device andobtain information about the operating system thereon from particularlocations in the file system. Based on this information, the operatingsystem may be determined. As an example, a UNIX® device with TCP port 22open may be classified as AIX®, HPUX, LINUX®, MACOS®, or SOLARIS®. Thisclassification information may be stored as one or more configurationitems in CMDB 500.

In the identification phase, proxy servers 312 may determine specificdetails about a classified device. The probes used during this phase maybe based on information gathered about the particular devices during theclassification phase. For example, if a device was classified as LINUX®,a set of LINUX®-specific probes may be used. Likewise if a device wasclassified as WINDOWS® 2012, as a set of WINDOWS®-2012-specific probesmay be used. As was the case for the classification phase, anappropriate set of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxyservers 312 to carry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312reading information from the particular device, such as basicinput/output system (BIOS) information, serial numbers, networkinterface information, media access control address(es) assigned tothese network interface(s), IP address(es) used by the particular deviceand so on. This identification information may be stored as one or moreconfiguration items in CMDB 500.

In the exploration phase, proxy servers 312 may determine furtherdetails about the operational state of a classified device. The probesused during this phase may be based on information gathered about theparticular devices during the classification phase and/or theidentification phase. Again, an appropriate set of tasks may be placedin task list 502 for proxy servers 312 to carry out. These tasks mayresult in proxy servers 312 reading additional information from theparticular device, such as processor information, memory information,lists of running processes (applications), and so on. Once more, thediscovered information may be stored as one or more configuration itemsin CMDB 500.

Running discovery on a network device, such as a router, may utilizeSNMP. Instead of or in addition to determining a list of runningprocesses or other application-related information, discovery maydetermine additional subnets known to the router and the operationalstate of the router's network interfaces (e.g., active, inactive, queuelength, number of packets dropped, etc.). The IP addresses of theadditional subnets may be candidates for further discovery procedures.Thus, discovery may progress iteratively or recursively.

Once discovery completes, a snapshot representation of each discovereddevice, application, and service is available in CMDB 500. For example,after discovery, operating system version, hardware configuration andnetwork configuration details for client devices, server devices, androuters in managed network 300, as well as applications executingthereon, may be stored. This collected information may be presented to auser in various ways to allow the user to view the hardware compositionand operational status of devices, as well as the characteristics ofservices that span multiple devices and applications.

Furthermore, CMDB 500 may include entries regarding dependencies andrelationships between configuration items. More specifically, anapplication that is executing on a particular server device, as well asthe services that rely on this application, may be represented as suchin CMDB 500. For instance, suppose that a database application isexecuting on a server device, and that this database application is usedby a new employee onboarding service as well as a payroll service. Thus,if the server device is taken out of operation for maintenance, it isclear that the employee onboarding service and payroll service will beimpacted. Likewise, the dependencies and relationships betweenconfiguration items may be able to represent the services impacted whena particular router fails.

In general, dependencies and relationships between configuration itemsbe displayed on a web-based interface and represented in a hierarchicalfashion. Thus, adding, changing, or removing such dependencies andrelationships may be accomplished by way of this interface.

Furthermore, users from managed network 300 may develop workflows thatallow certain coordinated activities to take place across multiplediscovered devices. For instance, an IT workflow might allow the user tochange the common administrator password to all discovered LINUX®devices in single operation.

In order for discovery to take place in the manner described above,proxy servers 312, CMDB 500, and/or one or more credential stores may beconfigured with credentials for one or more of the devices to bediscovered. Credentials may include any type of information needed inorder to access the devices. These may include userid/password pairs,certificates, and so on. In some embodiments, these credentials may bestored in encrypted fields of CMDB 500. Proxy servers 312 may containthe decryption key for the credentials so that proxy servers 312 can usethese credentials to log on to or otherwise access devices beingdiscovered.

The discovery process is depicted as a flow chart in FIG. 5B. At block520, the task list in the computational instance is populated, forinstance, with a range of IP addresses. At block 522, the scanning phasetakes place. Thus, the proxy servers probe the IP addresses for devicesusing these IP addresses, and attempt to determine the operating systemsthat are executing on these devices. At block 524, the classificationphase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the operatingsystem version of the discovered devices. At block 526, theidentification phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determinethe hardware and/or software configuration of the discovered devices. Atblock 528, the exploration phase takes place. The proxy servers attemptto determine the operational state and applications executing on thediscovered devices. At block 530, further editing of the configurationitems representing the discovered devices and applications may takeplace. This editing may be automated and/or manual in nature.

The blocks represented in FIG. 5B are for purpose of example. Discoverymay be a highly configurable procedure that can have more or fewerphases, and the operations of each phase may vary. In some cases, one ormore phases may be customized, or may otherwise deviate from theexemplary descriptions above.

V. CMDB IDENTIFICATION RULES AND RECONCILIATION

A CMDB, such as CMDB 500, provides a repository of configuration items,and when properly provisioned, can take on a key role in higher-layerapplications deployed within or involving a computational instance.These applications may relate to enterprise IT service management,operations management, asset management, configuration management,compliance, and so on.

For example, an IT service management application may use information inthe CMDB to determine applications and services that may be impacted bya component (e.g., a server device) that has malfunctioned, crashed, oris heavily loaded. Likewise, an asset management application may useinformation in the CMDB to determine which hardware and/or softwarecomponents are being used to support particular enterprise applications.As a consequence of the importance of the CMDB, it is desirable for theinformation stored therein to be accurate, consistent, and up to date.

A CMDB may be populated in various ways. As discussed above, a discoveryprocedure may automatically store information related to configurationitems in the CMDB. However, a CMDB can also be populated, as a whole orin part, by manual entry, configuration files, and third-party datasources. Given that multiple data sources may be able to update the CMDBat any time, it is possible that one data source may overwrite entriesof another data source. Also, two data sources may each create slightlydifferent entries for the same configuration item, resulting in a CMDBcontaining duplicate data. When either of these occurrences takes place,they can cause the health and utility of the CMDB to be reduced.

In order to mitigate this situation, these data sources might not writeconfiguration items directly to the CMDB. Instead, they may write to anidentification and reconciliation application programming interface(API). This API may use a set of configurable identification rules thatcan be used to uniquely identify configuration items and determinewhether and how they are written to the CMDB.

In general, an identification rule specifies a set of configuration itemattributes that can be used for this unique identification.Identification rules may also have priorities so that rules with higherpriorities are considered before rules with lower priorities.Additionally, a rule may be independent, in that the rule identifiesconfiguration items independently of other configuration items.Alternatively, the rule may be dependent, in that the rule first uses ametadata rule to identify a dependent configuration item.

Metadata rules describe which other configuration items are containedwithin a particular configuration item, or the host on which aparticular configuration item is deployed. For example, a networkdirectory service configuration item may contain a domain controllerconfiguration item, while a web server application configuration itemmay be hosted on a server device configuration item.

A goal of each identification rule is to use a combination of attributesthat can unambiguously distinguish a configuration item from all otherconfiguration items, and is expected not to change during the lifetimeof the configuration item. Some possible attributes for an exampleserver device may include serial number, location, operating system,operating system version, memory capacity, and so on. If a rulespecifies attributes that do not uniquely identify the configurationitem, then multiple components may be represented as the sameconfiguration item in the CMDB. Also, if a rule specifies attributesthat change for a particular configuration item, duplicate configurationitems may be created.

Thus, when a data source provides information regarding a configurationitem to the identification and reconciliation API, the API may attemptto match the information with one or more rules. If a match is found,the configuration item is written to the CMDB. If a match is not found,the configuration item may be held for further analysis.

Configuration item reconciliation procedures may be used to ensure thatonly authoritative data sources are allowed to overwrite configurationitem data in the CMDB. This reconciliation may also be rules-based. Forinstance, a reconciliation rule may specify that a particular datasource is authoritative for a particular configuration item type and setof attributes. Then, the identification and reconciliation API will onlypermit this authoritative data source to write to the particularconfiguration item, and writes from unauthorized data sources may beprevented. Thus, the authorized data source becomes the single source oftruth regarding the particular configuration item. In some cases, anunauthorized data source may be allowed to write to a configuration itemif it is creating the configuration item or the attributes to which itis writing are empty.

Additionally, multiple data sources may be authoritative for the sameconfiguration item or attributes thereof. To avoid ambiguities, thesedata sources may be assigned precedences that are taken into accountduring the writing of configuration items. For example, a secondaryauthorized data source may be able to write to a configuration item'sattribute until a primary authorized data source writes to thisattribute. Afterward, further writes to the attribute by the secondaryauthorized data source may be prevented.

In some cases, duplicate configuration items may be automaticallydetected by reconciliation procedures or in another fashion. Theseconfiguration items may be flagged for manual de-duplication.

VI. DETERMINING SOFTWARE APPLICATION UTILIZATION

An enterprise may use the computing devices described above in relationto FIGS. 1 and 2 to facilitate and manage its many interrelatedoperations. In turn, the computing devices may rely on softwareapplications to perform tasks. Each computing device may be tasked withperforming a set of operations, and accordingly may use a combination ofsoftware applications to perform those tasks. While some such softwareapplications may be hosted by an aPaaS system, as described above inrelation to FIGS. 1 through 4, others may be installed on the individualcomputing devices themselves. Such software is often proprietary, andmay be licensed in several ways.

By way of example, a software license may include “per-device” licenserights, which may specify a number of computing/server devices that arepermitted to use the software. In another example, computing devices mayinclude various physical processors, and a software license may include“per-processor” license rights, which may specify a number of physicalprocessors having permission to use the software. In yet anotherexample, computing devices may include multi-core processors, and asoftware license may include “per-core” license rights, which mayspecify a number of processor cores having permission to use thesoftware. Other examples are also possible.

Moreover, each software license may specify costs related to use ofsoftware. For example, with regard to per-device license rights, asoftware license may specify a licensing cost per device that uses thesoftware (e.g., a cost of $1,200 for each computing device that has thesoftware installed thereon). In another example, with regard toper-processor license rights, a software license may specify a licensingcost per physical processor that uses the software (e.g., a cost of $500for each processor on which the software is installed). In yet anotherexample, with regard to per-core license rights, a software license mayspecify a licensing cost per processor core that uses the software(e.g., a cost of $200 for each processor core on which the software isinstalled). In yet other examples, a software license may have a morecomplex costs arrangement, as the cost per device, processor, and/orcore may vary depending on the number of device, processors and/or coresusing the software (e.g., a cost of $500 per processor for the first tenprocessors that have the software installed thereon and a cost of $450per processor for the next ten processors that have the softwareinstalled thereon, and so on.) Other licensing schemes are possible aswell.

Regardless of the licensing scheme, the enterprise may attempt to keeptrack of which of its computing devices, physical processors, and/orprocessor cores use what licensed software. In so doing, the enterprisemay determine whether it is in compliance with its various softwarelicenses, whether it is using its licensed software efficiently, andwhether it should purchase new software licenses.

Tracking software application usage across an entire enterprise maypresent challenges. A large enterprise may use thousands of separatecomputing devices, each of which may use a set of software applications.Further, such computing devices may go in and out of service, requiredifferent software applications over time, and/or require differenthardware configurations over time, among other possibilities. Moreover,certain software application may be installed and/or uninstalled fromcertain computing devices without supervision or notice.

Tracking the use of software within an enterprise may be achieved usingan aPaaS system as described above in relation to FIGS. 1 through 5B.Such an aPaaS system may be particularly suited to tracking suchsoftware usage because the aPaaS system may gather information fromcomputing devices in managed networks such as the enterprise.

Tracking the use of software within an enterprise may involvedetermining configuration items in the manner described above inrelation to FIGS. 5A through 5B. For instance, the aPaaS system maydetermine which software applications are installed on computing deviceswithin managed network 300 in a similar fashion to the example scenariodescribed above with regard to FIGS. 5A and 5B.

To accurately track such software usage, the aPaaS system coulddetermine which computing devices, physical processors, and/or processorcores utilize what software applications. For example, duringidentification phase 526 of discovery, customer instance 322 maydetermine the configuration of discovered devices, includingidentification parameters indicative of specific computing devices.Further, during exploration phase 528, customer instance 322 maydetermine services such as software applications of each discovereddevice. The identification parameters associated with such softwareapplications may indicate on which specific computing device(s) eachsoftware application is installed. However, the identificationparameters may additionally or alternatively specify a number ofprocessors or cores of a computing device, a device name, or a nameduser, associated with each software application. The identificationparameters associated with the software applications may furtherindicate how often each software application is used by each device,processor, core, or user etc.

Further, the aPaaS system could determine to what extent the enterpriseis in compliance with its software licenses. Determining such compliancemay be referred to as “reconciliation.” For example, the system may rundiscovery on computing devices within managed network 300 to determinehow many times each software application has been installed. In otherexamples, the aPaaS system may rely on past discovery to determine howmany instances of the software application have been installed. Forexample, the configuration items stored on CMDB 500 may be sufficient todetermine how many instances are installed within managed network 300.The aPaaS system may also determine what software application licenserights are held by the managed network. Finally, the aPaaS system mayassociate the installed software applications with the software licenserights. Such reconciliation of the software applications may be based ona license metric associated with a specified software license. As notedabove, the license metric may specify that installations are countedper-device, per-processor, or per-core, among other options.

When determining a number of software license rights under a per-devicelicense metric, the aPaaS system may count each computing device withinthe managed network where a particular software application is deployed,even where installed software applications are using more than oneprocessor or processor core on certain of the computing devices. Forinstance, a computing device that runs the particular softwareapplication may have two processors contained therein, and eachprocessor may include four cores. If each core of each processor is usedto run the particular software application, totaling eight cores runningthe software application, only one software license right would becounted when using the per-device license metric. In this regard, itshould be noted that, when devices are in certain computing arrangements(e.g., a server cluster), software does not necessarily need to beinstalled on each device if the software is available or otherwiseaccessible to device(s) on which it is not installed.

When determining a number of software license rights under aper-processor license metric, the aPaaS system may count each processorwithin the managed network where a particular software application isdeployed. For example, when a computing device that runs the particularsoftware application has two processors, both processors would becounted when using the per-processor license metric. However, if eachprocessor included four cores, the software license right count wouldstill equal two under the per-processor license metric.

In this regard, a definition of a per-processor license metric coulddepend on the software publisher in question. For example, in somecases, one or more processors of computing device(s) could eachrespectively have a particular software application installed thereon.And when determining a number of software license rights under aper-processor license metric, the aPaaS system could count eachprocessor within the managed network that has the particular softwareapplication installed thereon. Other examples are also possible.

When determining a number of software license rights under a per-corelicense metric, the aPaaS system may count each core within the managednetwork where a particular software application is deployed. Forexample, when a computing device that runs the particular softwareapplication has two processors each having four cores, eight softwarelicense rights would be counted under the per-core license metric.

In this regard, a definition of per-core license metric could depend onthe software publisher in question. For example, in some cases, one ormore cores within computing device(s) could each respectively have aparticular software application installed thereon. And when determininga number of software license rights under a per-core license metric, theaPaaS system could count each core within the managed network that hasthe particular software application installed thereon. Other examplesare also possible.

Generally, the aPaaS system may perform an action based on the extent towhich the enterprise is in compliance with its software licenses. Forexample, the system may provide, via a GUI, a recommendation to purchaseadditional licenses, to install a software application on more devices,or to uninstall the software application from certain computing deviceswithin the managed network. In some examples, the aPaaS system, upondetermination that certain criteria have been met, may automaticallypurchase additional software, or reorganize which devices, processors,or cores upon which the software applications are installed. Variousother examples are also possible.

VII. PROJECTING IMPACT OF A PROPOSED CONFIGURATION ON LICENSE RIGHTSCONSUMPTION

As noted, an enterprise might make changes to software and/or hardwareconfiguration(s) of computing device(s), and these changes could havevarious consequences. One such consequence may be an impact of thechanges on license rights consumption associated with various softwareapplication(s). This may include an impact on the number of rightsrespectively used for the software application(s) and/or an impact oncosts associated with licenses for the software application(s), amongother possibilities. In any case, such impact may often be overlooked byan enterprise or may otherwise be difficult for an enterprise to projectbefore configuration changes are carried out.

Disclosed herein is a system that would allow an enterprise to evaluatehow proposed configuration(s) of computing device(s) may impact licenserights consumption for software application(s). In accordance with thepresent disclosure, a remote network management platform could bearranged to determine and provide, for display on client device(s)associated with a managed network, information related to projectedimpact of change(s) to computing device configuration(s) on licenserights consumption.

FIG. 6 illustrates features, components, and operations of a system thatdetermines and provides information related to projected impact ofchange(s) to computing device configuration(s) on license rightsconsumption. Although FIG. 6 illustrates a specific arrangement, variousoperations disclosed herein may be carried out in the context of similarand/or other arrangement(s) as well without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

Specifically, FIG. 6 illustrates a client device 600, which may be oneof the client devices 302 on the managed network 300. Generally, theclient device 600 may engage in communication with computationalinstance 322, such as via wired and/or wireless communication link(s)(not shown). In this regard, the computational instance 322 may includeone or more server devices (not shown) that engage in communicationswith client device 600 and that may be disposed within a remote networkmanagement platform, such as remote network management platform 320, soas to support remote management of the client device 600's managednetwork.

Moreover, as shown, the client device 600 may be configured to operate aweb browser 602, which is a software application that may retrieve,present, and/or navigate through information on the World Wide Weband/or on private websites. The browser 602 may include a web-displaytool (not shown) that provides for or otherwise supports display ofinformation, such as information received from the computationalinstance 322. For example, as further discussed herein, the web-displaytool may display information related to a projected license rightsconsumption provided by the computational instance 322. Other examplesare also possible.

In FIG. 6, computational instance 322 is shown to include CMDB 500 and adatabase 604 that contains licensing information 606. Although CMDB 500and database 604 are shown to be separate, database 604 could be part ofCMDB 600, such that CMDB 500 contains the licensing information 606.Additionally, although computational instance 322 is shown to includecertain features, computational instance 322 may include any feasiblecombination of features, so as to facilitate aspects of the presentdisclosure.

As discussed, CMDB 500 is a database that is disposed within a remotenetwork management platform and that contains information regardingdiscovered configuration items of a managed network, such as of clientdevice 600's managed network. For example, CMDB 500 may containinformation about computing devices of the managed network and/orinformation about a plurality of software applications installed ondevices of the managed network.

Further, as noted, database 604 contains licensing information 606,which may include information related to software licenses held by themanaged network.

Generally, the licensing information 606 may include respectiveindications of license rights allocations and consumption for each of aplurality of software applications associated with the managed network.For example, the licensing information 606 may specify a number oflicense rights used by devices, processors, and/or cores of the managednetwork in association with a given software application. In anotherexample, the licensing information 606 may specify a number of licenserights allocated to devices, processors, and/or cores of the managednetwork in association with a given software application.

In some embodiments, the licensing information 606 may additionally oralternatively include respective indications of license metrics for eachof the plurality of software applications. For example, the licensinginformation 606 may specify that license rights for a given softwareapplication include per-core license rights, per-processor licenserights, and/or per-device license rights.

In yet other embodiments, the licensing information 606 may additionallyor alternatively include respective indications of licensing costs foreach of the plurality of software applications. For example, thelicensing information 606 may specify a particular licensing cost per alicense right used in association with a given software application. Inmore specific examples, depending on the license metric(s) specified fora given software application, the licensing information 606 may specifya licensing cost per device that uses the given software application, alicensing cost per physical processor that uses the given softwareapplication, and/or a licensing cost per processor core that uses thegiven software application. Other examples are also possible.

In a system arranged as described above, client device 600 andcomputational instance 322 may engage in various communications with oneanother. In practice, these communications may trigger and/or may betriggered by one or more operations by respective features/components ofclient device 600 and computational instance 322.

More specifically, computational instance 322 may provide, to the clientdevice 600, a representation of a GUI that displays a nominalconfiguration 608 of a computing device. The computational instance 322could do so automatically and/or in response to a request from theclient device 600 provided by way of the GUI, among other options.

In any case, the computing device at issue could take various forms andcould have one or more software applications installed thereon. Forexample, the computing device may be a server device of the clientdevice 600's managed network, such as one of the server device 304 forexample, or could be a virtual machine on the server device, such as oneof the virtual machines 308 for example, among other possibilities. Inother examples, the computing device could be a computing device thathypothetically can be added to the managed network, that has beenproposed for addition to the managed network, or that has already beenplanned for addition to the managed network, among other possibilities.Moreover, the computing device at issue may be one on which a particularsoftware application is deployed or is a candidate for deployment. Forexample, the particular software application may already have beeninstalled on the computing device or is being considered forinstallation on the computing device.

With regard to this particular software application, the licensinginformation 606 may respectively indicate a first license rightsconsumption for the particular software application. The first licenserights consumption may be the current license rights consumption, suchas one that relates to extent of consumption of license rights for theparticular software application substantially at a time that the nominalconfiguration 608 is being displayed by the client device 600. As such,the first license right consumption may be defined in various ways.

Generally, the first license rights consumption may include the numberof license rights used in association with the particular softwareapplication. For example, the licensing information 606 may indicatethat ten license rights (e.g., per-core license rights) are currentlybeing used by the managed network in association with the particularsoftware application.

Additionally or alternatively, the first license rights consumption mayinclude a licensing cost for the particular software application. Forexample, if licensing information 606 respectively indicates that tenper-core license rights are currently being used by the managed networkin association with the particular software application and alsospecifies a licensing cost of fifty dollars ($50) per processor corethat uses the particular software application, then a licensing cost forthe particular software application amounts to be five hundred dollars($500). Other examples are also possible.

Nonetheless, when computational instance 322 provides the representationof the GUI that displays the nominal configuration 608 of the computingdevice, the information provided about the nominal configuration 608 inthe GUI may be based on information specified in the CMDB 500 for thecomputing device. Specifically, the nominal configuration 608 may relateto current hardware and/or software aspect(s) of the computing device,such as those specified in the CMDB 500 for the computing device at atime that the representation at issue is provided to the client device600. As such, the nominal configuration 608 may be a nominal hardwareconfiguration and/or nominal software configuration of the computingdevice.

When the nominal configuration 608 is a nominal hardware configuration,the GUI may display information about one or more hardware features ofthe computing device. For example, the nominal hardware configurationmay relate to a nominal count of physical processors on the computingdevice, which may be a count of physical processors specified in theCMDB 500 for the computing device at a time that the representation atissue is provided to the client device 600. In another example, thenominal hardware configuration may relate to a nominal count ofprocessor cores on the computing device, which may be a count ofprocessor cores specified in the CMDB 500 for the computing device at atime that the representation at issue is provided to the client device600. In this example, the processor cores could be physical core(s) onphysical processor(s) of server device(s) and/or virtual core(s) onvirtual machine(s), among other options. In yet another example, thenominal hardware configuration may relate to an option of deploying orotherwise adding the computing device to the managed network.

As such, the representation of the GUI that is provided to the clientdevice 600 could display information about a nominal count of physicalprocessors on the computing devices, about a nominal count of processorcores on the computing device (e.g., an indication of a number ofphysical processors in addition to an indication of a number ofprocessor cores per physical processor), and/or about the option ofdeploying or otherwise adding the computing device to the managednetwork, among others.

On the other hand, when the nominal configuration 608 is a nominalsoftware configuration, the GUI may display information about one ormore software features of the computing device. For example, the nominalsoftware configuration may relate to information about one or moresoftware application currently installed on the computing device, suchas in accordance with information specified in the CMDB 500. This mayinclude information about the above-described particular softwareapplication for which a first license rights consumption is specified inthe licensing information 606. In another example, the nominal softwareconfiguration may relate possible installation or upgrading of certainsoftware application(s) on the computing device. Here again, this mayinclude an option to install or upgrade the above-described particularsoftware application on the computing device. As such, therepresentation of the GUI that is provided to the client device 600could display information about software application(s) currentlyinstalled on the computing device and/or about software application(s)that are candidate for installation or upgrading on the computing deviceamong others.

Further, the representation of the GUI that displays the nominalconfiguration 608 of the computing device could take various forms andcould include various interface features.

By way of example (and without limitation), the representation mayinclude an identification section and a configuration section. Theidentification section may be arranged to display identifyingcharacteristics of the computing device, such as a name, manufacturer,model, and/or identifier of the computing device, among others. Whereas,the configuration section may be arranged to display information relatedto the nominal configuration 608, such as by displaying a nominal countof physical processors on the computing device and/or a nominal count ofprocessor cores on the computing device, among other options.

Moreover, the representation of the GUI could also include an interfacefeature that is arranged for specifying characteristics of a proposedconfiguration 610 of the computing device, and may also include asubmission feature that is selectable to cause the client device 600 toprovide, to the computational instance 322, an indication of theproposed configuration 610, as shown in FIG. 6. Generally, one or bothof these features could be included as part of the above-describedconfiguration section of the GUI, among other options.

Accordingly, when computational instance 322 receives an indication ofthe proposed configuration 610 of the computing device, the indicationof the proposed configuration 610 may be based input provided by way ofthe GUI, such as by a user of the managed network. This proposedconfiguration 610 may relate to hardware and/or software feature(s)proposed for inclusion in the computing device at a future time, and, inmany situations, may require review and approval by an individual at theenterprise before being implemented in practice. As such, the proposedconfiguration 610 may be a proposed hardware configuration and/or aproposed software configuration of the computing device.

When the proposed configuration 610 is a proposed hardwareconfiguration, the computational instance 322 may receive informationabout one or more proposed hardware features for the computing device.For example, the proposed hardware configuration may relate to aproposed count of physical processors on the computing device, which maybe a count of physical processors proposed for inclusion in thecomputing device at a future time. In another example, the proposedhardware configuration may relate to a proposed count of processor coreson the computing device, which may be a count of processor coresproposed for inclusion in the computing device at a future time. In thisexample, the processor cores could be physical core(s) on physicalprocessor(s) of server device(s) and/or virtual core(s) on virtualmachine(s), among other options. In yet another example, the proposedhardware configuration may relate to a proposal to deploy or otherwiseadd the computing device to the managed network.

As such, when computational instance 322 receives the indication of theproposed configuration 610 of the computing device, the indication mayspecify a proposed count of physical processors, a proposed count ofprocessor cores on the computing device (e.g., a proposed number ofphysical processors and/or a proposed number of processor cores perphysical processor), and/or a proposal to deploy or otherwise add thecomputing device to the managed network, among others.

On the other hand, when the proposed configuration 610 is a proposedsoftware configuration, the computational instance 322 may receiveinformation about one or more proposed software features for thecomputing device. For example, the proposed software configuration mayrelate to a proposal to install or upgrade certain softwareapplication(s) on the computing device, such as a proposal to install orupgrade the above-mentioned particular software application on thecomputing device. As such, when computational instance 322 receives theindication of the proposed configuration 610 of the computing device,the indication may specify information about software application(s)that are proposed for installation or upgrading on the computing device.Other examples are also possible.

Given this, the proposed configuration 610 of the computing device maybe different from the nominal configuration 608 of the computing device.For example, the nominal configuration 608 may specify a nominal countof physical processors on the computing device that is different (e.g.,higher or lower) from a proposed count of physical processors on thecomputing device as specified by the proposed configuration 610. Inanother example, the nominal configuration 608 may specify a nominalcount of processor cores on the computing device that is different(e.g., higher or lower) from a proposed count of processor cores on thecomputing device as specified by the proposed configuration 610. In yetanother example, the nominal configuration 608 may specify that theabove-mentioned particular software application is a candidate fordeployment on the computing device, and the proposed configuration 610may include a proposal to deploy this particular software application onthe computing device. Other examples are also possible.

Once the computational instance 322 receives the indication of theproposed configuration 610, the computational instance 322 may determinea second license rights consumption that results from deploying theabove-mentioned particular software application in accordance with theproposed configuration 610. The second license rights consumption may bea projected license rights consumption, such as one that relates toextent of consumption of license rights for the particular softwareapplication at a future time. In practice, depending on the proposedconfiguration 610, the second license rights consumption could end upbeing greater, lesser, or the same as the first license rightsconsumption. Nonetheless, the second license rights consumption may bedefined in various ways.

Generally, the second license rights consumption may include a projectednumber of license rights to be used in association with the particularsoftware application and/or a projected change in the number of licenserights used in association with the particular software application. Forexample, the computational instance 322 may determine that, as a resultof the proposed configuration 610, fifteen license rights (e.g.,per-core license rights) are projected to be used by the managed networkin association with the particular software application. And assumingthat the licensing information 606 indicates that ten license rights arecurrently being used by the managed network in association with theparticular software application, the computational instance 322 coulddetermine that the number of license rights used in association with theparticular software application is projected to increase by a count offive license rights.

Additionally or alternatively, the second license rights consumption mayinclude projected licensing costs for the particular softwareapplication, and/or a projected change in licensing costs for theparticular software application. For example, the computational instance322 may determine that, as a result of the proposed configuration 610,licensing costs for the particular software application are projected tobe seven hundred and fifty dollars ($750). And in line with the examplesabove, assuming that current licensing costs for the particular softwareapplication are at five hundred dollars ($500), the computationalinstance 322 may also determine that licensing costs for the particularsoftware application are projected to increase by an amount of twohundred and fifty dollars ($250). Other examples are also possible.

Given this, the computational instance 322 could use various approachesto determine the second license rights consumption that may result fromdeploying the particular software application in accordance with theproposed configuration 610. Although a certain approach is described,other approaches may be possible as well without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

As an initial matter, the computational instance 322 may refer tolicensing information 606 to determine a license metric associated withthe particular software application. For example, the computationalinstance 322 may determine whether installations for the particularsoftware application are counted per-device, per-processor, or per-core.Then, the computational instance 322 could use at least the determinedlicense metric as basis for determining how the proposed configuration610 may impact license rights consumption for the particular softwareapplication.

In one case, if the computational instance 322 determines aper-processor license metric for the particular software application,then the computational instance 322 may determine a projected number ofphysical processors that will use the particular software application asa result of the proposed configuration 610. In this case, this projectednumber of physical processors may correspond to the projected number oflicense rights to be used in association with the particular softwareapplication.

For example, based on information in CMDB 500, the computationalinstance 322 may determine that eight physical processors within themanaged network currently run the particular software applicationinstalled on device(s) of the managed network, and that two of thesephysical processors are of the computing device at issue (i.e., thecomputing device for which the proposed configuration 610 is provided).If the proposed configuration 610 specifies a proposed count of sixphysical processors on the computing device, then the computationalinstance 322 may determine that twelve physical processors are projectedto run the particular software application, as the proposedconfiguration 610 would amount to an increase of physical processors onthe computing device by a count of two. As such, the computationalinstance 322 may determine that, as a result of the proposedconfiguration 610, twelve per-processor license rights are projected tobe used in association with the particular software application.

In another example, based on information in CMDB 500, the computationalinstance 322 may determine that ten physical processors within themanaged network currently run the particular software applicationinstalled on device(s) of the managed network, and that four of thesephysical processors are of the computing device at issue. If theproposed configuration 610 specifies proposed count of four processorcores per physical processor on the computing device without alsospecifying a change in the number of physical processors on thecomputing device, then the computational instance 322 may determine thatstill ten physical processors are projected to run the particularsoftware application, as the proposed configuration 610 would not changethe number of physical processors on the computing device. As such, thecomputational instance 322 may determine that, as a result of theproposed configuration 610, ten per-processor license rights areprojected to be used in association with the particular softwareapplication, which means that the proposed configuration 610 would notimpact license rights consumption for the particular softwareapplication.

In yet another example, based on information in CMDB 500, thecomputational instance 322 may determine that four physical processorswithin the managed network currently run the particular softwareapplication installed on device(s) of the managed network, that theparticular software application is not currently installed or otherwiserun on the computing device at issue, and that the computing device atissue has four physical processors. If the proposed configuration 610specifies a proposal to deploy the particular software application onthe computing device, then the computational instance 322 may determinethat eight physical processors are projected to run the particularsoftware application, as the proposed configuration 610 would cause theparticular application to be run on the computing device's four physicalprocessors in addition to the four physical processors within themanaged network that currently run the particular software application.As such, the computational instance 322 may determine that, as a resultof the proposed configuration 610, eight per-processor license rightsare projected to be used in association with the particular softwareapplication. Other examples are also possible.

In another case, if the computational instance 322 determines a per-corelicense metric for the particular software application, then thecomputational instance 322 may determine a projected number of processorcores that will run the particular software application as a result ofthe proposed configuration 610. In this case, this projected number ofprocessor cores may correspond to the projected number of license rightsto be used in association with the particular software application.

For example, based on information in CMDB 500, the computationalinstance 322 may determine that sixteen processor cores within themanaged network currently run the particular software applicationinstalled on device(s) of the managed network, and that four of theseprocessor cores are on two physical processors of the computing deviceat issue (e.g., two processor cores per physical processor). If theproposed configuration 610 specifies a proposed count of three physicalprocessors on the computing device each having two processor cores, thenthe computational instance 322 may determine that eighteen processorcores are projected to run the particular software application installedon device(s) of the managed network, as the proposed configuration 610would amount to an increase of processor cores on the computing deviceby a count of two. As such, the computational instance 322 may determinethat, as a result of the proposed configuration 610, eighteen per-corelicense rights are projected to be used in association with theparticular software application.

In another example, based on information in CMDB 500, the computationalinstance 322 may determine that ten processor cores within the managednetwork currently run the particular software application installed ondevice(s) of the managed network, and that eight of these processorcores are on two physical processors of the computing device at issue(e.g., four processor cores per physical processor). If the proposedconfiguration 610 specifies proposed count of eight processor cores perphysical processor on the computing device without also specifying achange in the number of physical processors on the computing device,then the computational instance 322 may determine that eighteenprocessor cores are projected to run the particular software applicationinstalled on device(s) of the managed network, as the proposedconfiguration 610 would change the number of processor cores on thecomputing device by a count of eight. As such, the computationalinstance 322 may determine that, as a result of the proposedconfiguration 610, eighteen per-core license rights are projected to beused in association with the particular software application.

In yet another example, based on information in CMDB 500, thecomputational instance 322 may determine that eight processor coreswithin the managed network currently run the particular softwareapplication installed on device(s) of the managed network, that theparticular software application is not currently installed or otherwiserun on the computing device at issue, and that the computing device atissue has six physical processors each having two processor cores,thereby amounting to twelve processor cores on the computing device. Ifthe proposed configuration 610 specifies a proposal to deploy theparticular software application on the computing device, then thecomputational instance 322 may determine that twenty processor cores areprojected to run the particular software application installed ondevice(s) of the managed network, as the proposed configuration 610would cause the particular application to be run on the computingdevice's twelve processor cores in addition to the eight processor coreswithin the managed network that currently run the particular softwareapplication. As such, the computational instance 322 may determine that,as a result of the proposed configuration 610, twenty per-core licenserights are projected to be used in association with the particularsoftware application. Other examples are also possible.

In yet another case, if the computational instance 322 determines aper-device license metric for the particular software application, thenthe computational instance 322 may determine a projected number ofcomputing devices that will run the particular software application as aresult of the proposed configuration 610 or a projected number ofcomputing devices that will have the particular software applicationinstalled thereon as a result of the proposed configuration 610. In thiscase, this projected number of computing devices may correspond to theprojected number of license rights to be used in association with theparticular software application.

For example, based on information in CMDB 500, the computationalinstance 322 may determine that thirty computing devices within themanaged network currently run the particular software applicationinstalled on device(s) of the managed network, and that the particularsoftware application is not currently installed or otherwise run on thecomputing device at issue. If the proposed configuration 610 specifies aproposal to deploy the particular software application on the computingdevice at issue, then the computational instance 322 may determine thatthirty one computing devices within the managed network are projected torun the particular software application installed on device(s) of themanaged network, as the proposed configuration 610 would cause theparticular application to be run on one additional computing device. Assuch, the computational instance 322 may determine that, as a result ofthe proposed configuration 610, thirty one per-device license rights areprojected to be used in association with the particular softwareapplication. Other cases and examples are also possible.

Once the projected number of license rights is determined, thecomputational instance 322 may use this projected number as basis fordetermining various other metrics that could be represented by theabove-described second license rights consumption.

By way of example, the computational instance 322 may determine aprojected change in the number of license rights used in associationwith the particular software application. To do so, the computationalinstance 322 may determine a difference between (i) the number oflicense rights projected to be used by the managed network inassociation with the particular software application and (ii) the numberof license rights currently being used by the managed network inassociation with the particular software application.

In another example, the computational instance 322 may determineprojected licensing costs for the particular software application. To doso, the computational instance 322 may refer to licensing information606 to determine a particular licensing cost per a license right used inassociation with the particular software application. Then, thecomputational instance 322 may determine the projected licensing coststo be a product of (i) the particular licensing cost per license rightused in association with the particular software application and (ii)the projected number of license rights to be used in association withthe particular software application.

In yet another example, the computational instance 322 may determine aprojected change in licensing costs for the particular softwareapplication. Here again, the computational instance 322 may refer tolicensing information 606 to determine a particular licensing cost per alicense right used in association with the particular softwareapplication. Then, the computational instance 322 may determine theprojected change in licensing costs to be a product of (i) theparticular licensing cost per license right used in association with theparticular software application and (ii) the projected change in thenumber of license rights used in association with the particularsoftware application. Various other examples are also possible.

Once the computational instance 322 determines the second license rightsconsumption (could also be referred to as a projected license rightsconsumption) that results from deploying the above-mentioned particularsoftware application in accordance with the proposed configuration 610,the computational instance 322 may provide, to the client device 600, anupdated representation of the GUI that displays a graphical indication612 of the second license rights consumption. The computational instance322 could do so in response to receiving the indication of the proposedconfiguration 610 and/or in response to a request from the client device600 provided by way of the GUI, among other options.

Accordingly, when computational instance 322 provides the updatedrepresentation of the GUI, the GUI on the client device 600 may thendisplay information related to the determined second license rightsconsumption. For example, the GUI may display graphical indicator(s) ofa projected number of license rights to be used in association with theparticular software application, of a projected change in the number oflicense rights used in association with the particular softwareapplication, of projected licensing costs for the particular softwareapplication, and/or of a projected change in licensing costs for theparticular software application, among other options.

In some embodiments, the computational instance 322 could additionallydetermine information related to projected software license compliance,and could provide this information to the client device 600 for display,such as part of the above-mentioned updated representation and/or aspart of a separate representation of the GUI. In this way, an enterprisecould determine whether the second license rights consumption resultingfrom the proposed configuration 610 would be in compliance with licenserights allocations for the particular software application.

In particular, based on the licensing information 606, the computationalinstance 322 could determine a number of license rights allocated to themanaged network for the particular software application. Given this, thecomputational instance 322 could then determine whether or not thesecond license right consumption exceeds the number of license rightsallocated to the managed network for the particular softwareapplication. For example, the computational instance 322 could determinewhether or not the number of license right projected to be used by themanaged network for the particular software application is expected toexceed the number of license rights allocated to the managed network forthe particular software application. As such, the computational instance322 could provide, to the client device 600, a representation of the GUIthat displays a graphical indication of whether or not the secondlicense right consumption exceeds the number of license rights allocatedto the managed network for the particular software application. Otherexamples are also possible.

Although various aspects of the present disclosure have been describedin the context of determining impact of proposed configuration change(s)to a single computing device on license rights consumption for a singlesoftware application, aspects of the present disclosure may extend toapply in the context of determining impact of configuration change(s) toone or more computing devices on license rights consumption for one ormore software applications.

In one case, computational instance 322 may determine and provide, to aclient device for display via a GUI, information related to impact ofconfiguration changes to two or more computing devices on license rightsconsumption for a single software applications.

For example, the client device 600 may display nominal configurationsrespectively of first and second computing devices within the managednetwork, and the computational instance 322 may then receive, from theclient device 600, a first indication of a first proposed configurationof the first computing device as well as a second indication of a secondproposed configuration of the second computing device. Responsively, thecomputational instance 322 may determine a total license rightsconsumption that results from deploying a particular softwareapplication in accordance with the first and second proposedconfigurations. In line with the discussion above, this total licenserights consumption may include a projected number of license rights tobe used in association with the particular software application, aprojected change in the number of license rights used in associationwith the particular software application, projected licensing costs forthe particular software application, and/or a projected change inlicensing costs for the particular software application, among others.As such, the computational instance 322 may provide, to the clientdevice 600, a representation of the GUI that displays a graphicalindication of the total license rights consumption.

In another case, computational instance 322 may determine and provide,to a client device for display via a GUI, information related to impactof a configuration change to a single computing device on license rightsconsumption for two or more software applications.

For example, the licensing information 606 may indicate current licenserights consumption respectively for each of first and second softwareapplications, and computational instance 322 may receive an indicationof a proposed configuration of a computing device. Responsively, thecomputational instance 322 may determine (i) a first projected licenserights consumption that results from deploying the first softwareapplication in accordance with the proposed configuration and (ii) asecond projected license rights consumption that results from deployingthe second software application in accordance with the proposedconfiguration. In line with the discussion above, each such projectedlicense rights consumption may respectively include a projected numberof license rights to be used in association with the respective softwareapplication, a projected change in the number of license rights used inassociation with the respective software application, projectedlicensing costs for the respective software application, and/or aprojected change in licensing costs for the respective softwareapplication, among others. As such, the computational instance 322 mayprovide, to the client device 600, a representation of the GUI thatdisplays graphical indication(s) of the first and second projectedlicense rights consumptions.

In this example, the computational instance 322 may additionally oralternatively determine a total license rights consumption that resultsfrom deploying both the first and second software applications inaccordance with the proposed configuration. This total license rightsconsumption may include projected total licensing costs for the firstand second software applications, and/or a projected change in totallicensing costs for the first and second software applications, amongothers. As such, the computational instance 322 may additionally oralternatively provide, to the client device 600, a representation of theGUI that displays a graphical indication of the total license rightsconsumption.

In yet another case, computational instance 322 may determine andprovide, to a client device for display via a GUI, information relatedto impact of a configuration change to two or more computing devices onlicense rights consumption for two or more software applications.

For example, the licensing information 606 may indicate current licenserights consumption respectively for each of first and second softwareapplication, and client device 600 may display nominal configurationsrespectively of first and second computing devices within the managednetwork. The first software application may be deployed and/or may be acandidate for deployment on the first and/or second computing devices.Similarly, the second software application may be deployed and/or may bea candidate for deployment on the first and/or second computing devices.

Given this, the computational instance 322 may receive, from the clientdevice 600, a first indication of a first proposed configuration of thefirst computing device as well as a second indication of a secondproposed configuration of the second computing device. Responsively, thecomputational instance 322 may determine (i) a first projected licenserights consumption that results from deploying the first softwareapplication in accordance with the first and/or second configurationsand (ii) a second projected license rights consumption that results fromdeploying the second software application in accordance with the firstand/or second configurations. Here again, each such projected licenserights consumption may respectively include a projected number oflicense rights to be used in association with the respective softwareapplication, a projected change in the number of license rights used inassociation with the respective software application, projectedlicensing costs for the respective software application, and/or aprojected change in licensing costs for the respective softwareapplication, among others. As such, the computational instance 322 mayprovide, to the client device 600, a representation of the GUI thatdisplays graphical indication(s) of the first and second projectedlicense rights consumptions.

In this example, the computational instance 322 may additionally oralternatively determine a total license rights consumption that resultsfrom (i) deploying the first software application in accordance with thefirst and/or second configurations and (ii) deploying the secondsoftware application in accordance with the first and/or secondconfigurations. Here again, this total license rights consumption mayinclude projected total licensing costs for the first and secondsoftware applications, and/or a projected change in total licensingcosts for the first and second software application, among otherpossibilities. As such, the computational instance 322 may additionallyor alternatively provide, to the client device 600, a representation ofthe GUI that displays a graphical indication of the total license rightsconsumption. Other cases and examples are also possible.

In this way, given that an enterprise may have numerous computingdevices, software applications, and associated software licenses, thepresent disclosure may help reduce the time and complexity ofdetermining impact of proposed computing device configuration(s) onsoftware license rights consumption, and may provide valuableinformation to the enterprise via a GUI, which may help the enterprisemake more informed decision(s) as to whether or not to carry out certainchanges to computing device configuration(s).

VIII. EXAMPLE GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES

FIG. 7 depict GUIs, in accordance with example embodiments. Each ofthese GUIs may be provided for display on a computing device (e.g. aclient device associated with managed network 300). However, it shouldbe understood that these GUIs are merely for purposes of illustration.The applications described herein may provide GUIs that formatinformation differently, include more or less information, includedifferent types of information, and relate to one another in differentways.

FIG. 7 depicts an example GUI 702 that displays a nominal configurationof a computing device and that provides features for indicating aproposed configuration of the computing device. In particular, GUI 702includes an identification section 704 and a configuration section 706.The identification section 704 may display identifying characteristicsof the computing device, such as a name “Server-WS18”, asset tag“SAMWS10018”, manufacturer “XYZ”, a company “ABC”, a serial number“SAM-141F133”, and a model identifier “ABCXYZ123”. Additionally, theconfiguration section 706 may display information related to the nominalconfiguration, such as a RAM of “1,791 MB”, a CPU manufacture “IBM”, aCPU type “Power 5+”, a CPU speed of “2,394 MHz”, a CPU count (i.e., anominal count of physical processors) of “8”, and a CPU core count(i.e., a nominal count of processor cores per physical processor) of “2”(not shown).

Moreover, GUI 702 is also shown to include an interface feature 708 thatis arranged for specifying characteristics of a proposed configurationof the computing device, and may also include a submission feature 710that is selectable to cause a client device to provide, to acomputational instance, an indication of the proposed configuration. Forexample, FIG. 7 shows a proposal to change the CPU core count from “2”processor cores per physical processor to “4” processor cores perphysical processor. And selection of the submission feature 710 may thencause the client device displaying GUI 702 to provide an indication ofthis proposed change to a computational instance.

Accordingly, when the computational instance receives an indication ofthe proposed configuration of the computing device, the computationalinstance may determine a projection license rights consumption that mayresult from this proposed configuration, as described herein. Then, thecomputational instance may provide, to the client device, arepresentation of a GUI 712 that displays the projected license rightsconsumption. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, GUI 712 may display (i)current software licensing costs of “$69, 944” for the managed network,(ii) projected software licensing costs of “$127,929.33” for the managednetwork, and (iii) a projected change in licensing costs of “$57,985.33”for the managed network. Other examples and illustrations are alsopossible.

Given this, an enterprise could simply provide information related to aproposed computing device configuration via the GUI(s), and mayconveniently receive viewable information related to a projectedlicensing impact of the proposed configuration, thereby saving time andreducing complexity of determining such a projected impact. As noted,such a licensing impact may often be overlooked by an enterprise. Thus,the information displayed on the GUI(s) may help the enterprise make amore informed decision as to whether or not to carry out certain changesto computing device configuration(s).

IX. EXAMPLE OPERATIONS

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment. The processillustrated by FIG. 8 may be carried out by a computing device, such ascomputing device 100, and/or a cluster of computing devices, such asserver cluster 200. However, the process can be carried out by othertypes of devices or device subsystems. For example, the process could becarried out by a portable computer, such as a laptop or a tablet device.

The embodiments of FIG. 8 may be simplified by the removal of any one ormore of the features shown therein. Further, these embodiments may becombined with features, aspects, and/or implementations of any of theprevious figures or otherwise described herein.

Block 800 may involve providing, by one or more server devices to aclient device associated with a managed network, a representation of agraphical user interface that displays a nominal configuration of acomputing device on which a particular software application, of aplurality of software applications associated with the managed network,is deployed or is a candidate for deployment, where the one or moreserver devices are disposed within a remote network management platformthat manages the managed network, where a database is also disposedwithin the remote network management platform, where the databasecontains licensing information that includes respective indications oflicense rights allocations and consumption for each of the plurality ofsoftware applications, and where the licensing information respectivelyindicates a first license rights consumption for the particular softwareapplication.

Block 802 may involve receiving, by one or more server devices from theclient device and by way of the graphical user interface, an indicationof a proposed configuration of the computing device.

Block 804 may involve, in response to receiving the indication of theproposed configuration, determining, by the one or more server devices,a second license rights consumption that results from deploying theparticular software application in accordance with the proposedconfiguration.

Block 806 may involve providing, by the one or more server devices tothe client device, an updated representation of the graphical userinterface that displays a graphical indication of the second licenserights consumption.

In some embodiments, the representation of the graphical user interfacethat displays the nominal configuration may include an identificationsection and a configuration section. The identification section may bearranged to display one or more identifying characteristics of thecomputing device, and the configuration section may be arranged todisplay one or more of (i) a nominal count of physical processors on thecomputing device or (ii) a nominal count of processor cores on thecomputing device. Moreover, the configuration section may include aninterface feature that is arranged for specifying characteristics of theproposed configuration.

In such embodiments, the interface feature being arranged for specifyingthe characteristics of the proposed configuration may involve theinterface feature being arranged for one or more of (i) specifying aproposed count of physical processors on the computing device that isdifferent from the nominal count or (ii) specifying a proposed count ofprocessor cores on the computing device that is different from thenominal count.

Additionally or alternatively, in such embodiments, the representationof the graphical user interface that displays the nominal configurationmay further include a submission feature that is selectable to cause thereceiving of the indication of the proposed configuration.

In some embodiments, the computing device may be a server device of themanaged network or a virtual machine on the server device.

In some embodiments, the nominal configuration may be a nominal hardwareconfiguration, and the proposed configuration may be a proposed hardwareconfiguration that is different from the nominal hardware configuration.

In such embodiments, the nominal hardware configuration may involve anominal count of physical processors on the computing device, and theproposed hardware configuration may involve a proposed count of physicalprocessors on the computing device that is different from the nominalcount.

Additionally or alternatively, in such embodiments, the nominal hardwareconfiguration may involve a nominal count of processor cores on thecomputing device, and the proposed hardware configuration may involve aproposed count of processor cores on the computing device that isdifferent from the nominal count.

In some embodiments, the nominal configuration may be a nominal softwareconfiguration, and the proposed configuration may be a proposed softwareconfiguration that is different from the nominal software configuration.

In some embodiments, the first license rights consumption may involve anumber of license rights used in association with the particularsoftware application, and the second license rights consumption mayinvolve once or more of (i) a projected number of license rights to beused in association with the particular software application or (ii) aprojected change in the number of license rights used in associationwith the particular software application.

In some embodiments, the first license rights consumption may involve alicensing cost for the particular software application, where thelicensing cost is based at least on the license rights allocations andconsumptions for the particular software application. And the secondlicense rights consumption may involve one or more of (i) a projectedlicensing cost for the particular software application or (ii) aprojected change in licensing costs for the particular softwareapplication, where the projected licensing cost and the project changein licensing costs are based at least on the projected configuration ofthe computing device and the license rights allocations and consumptionsfor the particular software application.

In some embodiments, the licensing information may specify that licenserights for the particular software application include one of thefollowing: per-core license rights, per-processor license rights, orper-device license rights. And determining the second license rightsconsumption may be based at least on the licensing information.

In some embodiments, the indication of the proposed configuration may bea first indication of a first proposed configuration of a firstcomputing device, the representation of the graphical user interface mayalso display a nominal configuration of a second computing device onwhich the particular software application is deployed or is a candidatefor deployment, and the one or more server devices may be furtherconfigured to: receive, by way of the graphical user interface and fromthe client device, a second indication of a second proposedconfiguration of the second computing device; in response to receivingthe first and second indications, determine a total license rightsconsumption that results from deploying the particular softwareapplication in accordance with the first and second proposedconfigurations; and provide, to the client device, a further updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of the total license rights consumption.

In some embodiments, the licensing information may respectively indicatea third license rights consumption for a further software application ofthe plurality of software applications that is deployed or is acandidate for deployment on the computing device, and the one or moreserver devices may be further configured to: in response to receivingthe indication of the proposed configuration, determine a fourth licenserights consumption that results from deploying the further softwareapplication in accordance with the proposed configuration; and provide,to the client device, a further updated representation of the graphicaluser interface that displays a graphical indication of the fourthlicense rights consumption.

In some embodiments, a further software application may be deployed ormay be a candidate for deployment on the computing device, and the oneor more server devices may be further configured to: in response toreceiving the indication of the proposed configuration, determine atotal license rights consumption that results from deploying both theparticular and the further software applications in accordance with theproposed configuration; and provide, to the client device, a furtherupdated representation of the graphical user interface that displays agraphical indication of the total license rights consumption.

In some embodiments, the licensing information may respectively indicatea third license rights consumption for a further software applicationthat is deployed or is a candidate for deployment on a further computingdevice, the representation of the graphical user interface may alsodisplay a nominal configuration of the further computing device, and theone or more server devices may be further configured to: receive, by wayof the graphical user interface and from the client device, a furtherindication of a further proposed configuration of the further computingdevice; in response to receiving the further indication of the furtherproposed configuration, determine a fourth license rights consumptionthat results from deploying the further software application inaccordance with the further proposed configuration; and provide, to theclient device, a further updated representation of the graphical userinterface that displays a graphical indication of the fourth licenserights consumption.

In some embodiments, the indication of the proposed configuration may bea first indication of a first proposed configuration of a firstcomputing device, the representation of the graphical user interface mayalso display a nominal configuration of a second computing device onwhich a second software application is deployed or is a candidate fordeployment, and the one or more server devices may be further configuredto: receive, by way of the graphical user interface and from the clientdevice, a second indication of a second proposed configuration of thesecond computing device; in response to receiving the first and secondindications, determine a total license rights consumption that resultsfrom (i) deploying the particular software application in accordancewith the first proposed configuration and (ii) deploying the secondsoftware application in accordance with the second proposedconfiguration; and provide, to the client device, a further updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of the total license rights consumption.

In some embodiments, the one or more server devices may be furtherconfigured to: based at least on the licensing information, determinewhether or not the second license rights consumption exceeds a number oflicense rights allocated in association with the particular softwareapplication; and provide, to the client device, a further updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of whether the second license rights consumption exceeds thenumber of license rights allocated in association with the particularsoftware application.

X. CONCLUSION

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its scope, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuseswithin the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those describedherein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoingdescriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

The above detailed description describes various features and operationsof the disclosed systems, devices, and methods with reference to theaccompanying figures. The example embodiments described herein and inthe figures are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments can beutilized, and other changes can be made, without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readilyunderstood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generallydescribed herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged,substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations.

With respect to any or all of the message flow diagrams, scenarios, andflow charts in the figures and as discussed herein, each step, block,and/or communication can represent a processing of information and/or atransmission of information in accordance with example embodiments.Alternative embodiments are included within the scope of these exampleembodiments. In these alternative embodiments, for example, operationsdescribed as steps, blocks, transmissions, communications, requests,responses, and/or messages can be executed out of order from that shownor discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order,depending on the functionality involved. Further, more or fewer blocksand/or operations can be used with any of the message flow diagrams,scenarios, and flow charts discussed herein, and these message flowdiagrams, scenarios, and flow charts can be combined with one another,in part or in whole.

A step or block that represents a processing of information cancorrespond to circuitry that can be configured to perform the specificlogical functions of a herein-described method or technique.Alternatively or additionally, a step or block that represents aprocessing of information can correspond to a module, a segment, or aportion of program code (including related data). The program code caninclude one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical operations or actions in the method ortechnique. The program code and/or related data can be stored on anytype of computer readable medium such as a storage device including RAM,a disk drive, a solid state drive, or another storage medium.

The computer readable medium can also include non-transitory computerreadable media such as computer readable media that store data for shortperiods of time like register memory and processor cache. The computerreadable media can further include non-transitory computer readablemedia that store program code and/or data for longer periods of time.Thus, the computer readable media may include secondary or persistentlong term storage, like ROM, optical or magnetic disks, solid statedrives, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. Thecomputer readable media can also be any other volatile or non-volatilestorage systems. A computer readable medium can be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.

Moreover, a step or block that represents one or more informationtransmissions can correspond to information transmissions betweensoftware and/or hardware modules in the same physical device. However,other information transmissions can be between software modules and/orhardware modules in different physical devices.

The particular arrangements shown in the figures should not be viewed aslimiting. It should be understood that other embodiments can includemore or less of each element shown in a given figure. Further, some ofthe illustrated elements can be combined or omitted. Yet further, anexample embodiment can include elements that are not illustrated in thefigures.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purpose ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopebeing indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a database disposed within aremote network management platform that manages a managed network,wherein the database contains licensing information that includesrespective indications of license rights allocations and consumption foreach of a plurality of software applications associated with the managednetwork; and one or more server devices, disposed within the remotenetwork management platform, configured to: provide, to a client deviceassociated with the managed network, a representation of a graphicaluser interface that displays a nominal configuration of a computingdevice on which a particular software application of the plurality ofsoftware applications is deployed or is a candidate for deployment,wherein the licensing information respectively indicates a first licenserights consumption for the particular software application; receive, byway of the graphical user interface and from the client device, anindication of a proposed configuration of the computing device; inresponse to receiving the indication of the proposed configuration,determine a second license rights consumption that results fromdeploying the particular software application in accordance with theproposed configuration; and provide, to the client device, an updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of the second license rights consumption.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the representation of the graphical user interface thatdisplays the nominal configuration includes an identification sectionand a configuration section, wherein the identification section isarranged to display one or more identifying characteristics of thecomputing device, wherein the configuration section is arranged todisplay one or more of (i) a nominal count of physical processors on thecomputing device or (ii) a nominal count of processor cores on thecomputing device, and wherein the configuration section includes aninterface feature that is arranged for specifying characteristics of theproposed configuration.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the interfacefeature being arranged for specifying the characteristics of theproposed configuration comprises the interface feature being arrangedfor one or more of (i) specifying a proposed count of physicalprocessors on the computing device that is different from the nominalcount or (ii) specifying a proposed count of processor cores on thecomputing device that is different from the nominal count.
 4. The systemof claim 2, wherein the representation of the graphical user interfacethat displays the nominal configuration further includes a submissionfeature that is selectable to cause the receiving of the indication ofthe proposed configuration.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein thecomputing device comprises a server device of the managed network or avirtual machine on the server device.
 6. The system of claim 1, whereinthe nominal configuration comprises a nominal hardware configuration,and wherein the proposed configuration comprises a proposed hardwareconfiguration that is different from the nominal hardware configuration.7. The system of claim 6, wherein the nominal hardware configurationcomprises a nominal count of physical processors on the computingdevice, and wherein the proposed hardware configuration comprises aproposed count of physical processors on the computing device that isdifferent from the nominal count.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein thenominal hardware configuration comprises a nominal count of processorcores on the computing device, and wherein the proposed hardwareconfiguration comprises a proposed count of processor cores on thecomputing device that is different from the nominal count.
 9. The systemof claim 1, wherein the nominal configuration comprises a nominalsoftware configuration, and wherein the proposed configuration comprisesa proposed software configuration that is different from the nominalsoftware configuration.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the firstlicense rights consumption comprises a number of license rights used inassociation with the particular software application, and wherein thesecond license rights consumption comprises once or more of (i) aprojected number of license rights to be used in association with theparticular software application or (ii) a projected change in the numberof license rights used in association with the particular softwareapplication.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first license rightsconsumption comprises a licensing cost for the particular softwareapplication, wherein the licensing cost is based at least on the licenserights allocations and consumptions for the particular softwareapplication, and wherein the second license rights consumption comprisesone or more of (i) a projected licensing cost for the particularsoftware application or (ii) a projected change in licensing costs forthe particular software application, wherein the projected licensingcost and the project change in licensing costs are based at least on theproposed configuration of the computing device and the license rightsallocations and consumptions for the particular software application.12. The system of claim 1, wherein the licensing information specifiesthat license rights for the particular software application comprise oneof the following: per-core license rights, per-processor license rights,or per-device license rights, and wherein determining the second licenserights consumption is based at least on the licensing information. 13.The system of claim 1, wherein the indication of the proposedconfiguration comprises a first indication of a first proposedconfiguration of a first computing device, wherein the representation ofthe graphical user interface also displays a nominal configuration of asecond computing device on which the particular software application isdeployed or is a candidate for deployment, and wherein the one or moreserver devices are further configured to: receive, by way of thegraphical user interface and from the client device, a second indicationof a second proposed configuration of the second computing device; inresponse to receiving the first and second indications, determine atotal license rights consumption that results from deploying theparticular software application in accordance with the first and secondproposed configurations; and provide, to the client device, a furtherupdated representation of the graphical user interface that displays agraphical indication of the total license rights consumption.
 14. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the licensing information respectivelyindicates a third license rights consumption for a further softwareapplication of the plurality of software applications that is deployedor is a candidate for deployment on the computing device, and whereinthe one or more server devices are further configured to: in response toreceiving the indication of the proposed configuration, determine afourth license rights consumption that results from deploying thefurther software application in accordance with the proposedconfiguration; and provide, to the client device, a further updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of the fourth license rights consumption.
 15. The system ofclaim 1, wherein a further software application is deployed or is acandidate for deployment on the computing device, and wherein the one ormore server devices are further configured to: in response to receivingthe indication of the proposed configuration, determine a total licenserights consumption that results from deploying both the particular andthe further software applications in accordance with the proposedconfiguration; and provide, to the client device, a further updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of the total license rights consumption.
 16. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the licensing information respectively indicates athird license rights consumption for a further software application thatis deployed or is a candidate for deployment on a further computingdevice, wherein the representation of the graphical user interface alsodisplays a nominal configuration of the further computing device, andwherein the one or more server devices are further configured to:receive, by way of the graphical user interface and from the clientdevice, a further indication of a further proposed configuration of thefurther computing device; in response to receiving the furtherindication of the further proposed configuration, determine a fourthlicense rights consumption that results from deploying the furthersoftware application in accordance with the further proposedconfiguration; and provide, to the client device, a further updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of the fourth license rights consumption.
 17. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the indication of the proposed configuration comprisesa first indication of a first proposed configuration of a firstcomputing device, wherein the representation of the graphical userinterface also displays a nominal configuration of a second computingdevice on which a second software application is deployed or is acandidate for deployment, and wherein the one or more server devices arefurther configured to: receive, by way of the graphical user interfaceand from the client device, a second indication of a second proposedconfiguration of the second computing device; in response to receivingthe first and second indications, determine a total license rightsconsumption that results from (i) deploying the particular softwareapplication in accordance with the first proposed configuration and (ii)deploying the second software application in accordance with the secondproposed configuration; and provide, to the client device, a furtherupdated representation of the graphical user interface that displays agraphical indication of the total license rights consumption.
 18. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the one or more server devices are furtherconfigured to: based at least on the licensing information, determinewhether or not the second license rights consumption exceeds a number oflicense rights allocated in association with the particular softwareapplication; and provide, to the client device, a further updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of whether the second license rights consumption exceeds thenumber of license rights allocated in association with the particularsoftware application.
 19. A method comprising: providing, by one or moreserver devices to a client device associated with a managed network, arepresentation of a graphical user interface that displays a nominalconfiguration of a computing device on which a particular softwareapplication, of a plurality of software applications associated with themanaged network, is deployed or is a candidate for deployment, whereinthe one or more server devices are disposed within a remote networkmanagement platform that manages the managed network, wherein a databaseis also disposed within the remote network management platform, whereinthe database contains licensing information that includes respectiveindications of license rights allocations and consumption for each ofthe plurality of software applications, and wherein the licensinginformation respectively indicates a first license rights consumptionfor the particular software application; receiving, by one or moreserver devices from the client device and by way of the graphical userinterface, an indication of a proposed configuration of the computingdevice; in response to receiving the indication of the proposedconfiguration, determining, by the one or more server devices, a secondlicense rights consumption that results from deploying the particularsoftware application in accordance with the proposed configuration; andproviding, by the one or more server devices to the client device, anupdated representation of the graphical user interface that displays agraphical indication of the second license rights consumption.
 20. Anarticle of manufacture including a non-transitory computer-readablemedium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon executionby one or more server devices of a remote network management platformthat manages a managed network, cause the server devices to performoperations comprising: providing, to a client device associated with themanaged network, a representation of a graphical user interface thatdisplays a nominal configuration of a computing device on which aparticular software application, of a plurality of software applicationsassociated with the managed network, is deployed or is a candidate fordeployment, wherein a database is disposed within the remote networkmanagement platform, wherein the database contains licensing informationthat includes respective indications of license rights allocations andconsumption for each of the plurality of software applications, andwherein the licensing information respectively indicates a first licenserights consumption for the particular software application; receiving,from the client device and by way of the graphical user interface, anindication of a proposed configuration of the computing device; inresponse to receiving the indication of the proposed configuration,determining a second license rights consumption that results fromdeploying the particular software application in accordance with theproposed configuration; and providing, to the client device, an updatedrepresentation of the graphical user interface that displays a graphicalindication of the second license rights consumption.